Merrimac is a somewhat small town located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 6,699 people and just one neighborhood, Merrimac is the 223rd largest community in Massachusetts.
Housing costs in Merrimac are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Massachusetts.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Merrimac is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Merrimac is a town of sales and office workers, managers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Merrimac who work in management occupations (18.37%), sales jobs (12.53%), and office and administrative support (11.26%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 10.35% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Because of many things, Merrimac is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Merrimac really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Merrimac perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.
The education level of Merrimac citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 33.22% of adults in Merrimac have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Merrimac in 2022 was $45,465, which is lower middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $181,860 for a family of four. However, Merrimac contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Merrimac home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Merrimac residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Merrimac include Irish, French, Italian, English, and German.
The most common language spoken in Merrimac is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more French and Portuguese ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 17.8% of this neighborhood's residents have French ancestry and 3.1% have Portuguese ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 3.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak German/Yiddish at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.6% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Merrimac are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 76.2% of the neighborhoods in America. With 21.8% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 71.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 41.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 23.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (21.8%), and 13.7% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.1% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and German/Yiddish.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Merrimac, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (23.8%). There are also a number of people of French ancestry (17.8%), and residents who report Italian roots (16.9%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (16.3%), along with some German ancestry residents (5.2%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.8% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (78.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (10.0%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.